Pure Tone PTT1 jack sockets (TS type for guitar/bass)

[Simon Barden]

Pure Tone PTT1 jack sockets

I’d read about these somewhere, but the written description didn’t seem all that convincing, just talking about ‘double the contact area of a normal jack socket’. It wasn’t until I was looking for a replacement Switchcraft jack socket to replace a dodgy one in a Strat I was fettling and came across a picture of one that I took more interest, read up about them on their web page https://puretonetechnologies.com/ then ordered a load to fit to my guitars (and obviously the Strat).

They’ve been available in the US since 2016, but now seem to be available in the UK at quite a few outlets (no idea about Australia or elsewhere). I'm surprised I haven't heard about them until very recently.

So here it is, the Pure Tone PTT1 TS jack socket:



And here is it compared against a standard Switchcraft jack socket:




And the view from the top:



As you can see, you’ve got two spring contacts for the tip contact, both of which have curved contact points (as opposed to the single flat contact point on a Switchcraft (or other standard jack socket), so there is certainly at least twice the contact area of a traditional jack.

You also have two extra spring contacts making contact with the sleeve. This provides extra support for the jack plug, which stops it from being able to wriggle around in the socket and also makes a more positive ground contact than just the sleeve touching the inside of the threaded barrel of the socket. These are all part of the sleeve solder connection and are positioned so that in the event of a TRS jack socket being inserted, they make contact with the ring connection and ground it out.

Here’s a standard Neutrik TS jack inserted into the Pure Tone socket:



…and the jack in a standard Switchcraft socket:



It should be obvious from the pictures Pure Tone jack is a more compact solution (length-wise) than the Switchcraft jack socket, which has benefits where space is an issue. I'll highlight Strat jack sockets, which for me are an abomination that should have been sorted out years ago. The socket rout is on a Strat just that bit too small to easily accommodate a standard jack socket.

You have to fit the socket in one position, and one position only, otherwise the spring for the tip presses against the back or the sides of the rout and you can’t fit a jack in. If you copper shield the socket rout, then there’s every chance that the tip will short out on the copper. If you then insulate the copper with tape, you’ll probably find the tape prevents the jack from being inserted properly. Sometimes you just have to get out the Dremel and make the rout a bit wider.

Using a Pure Tone jack socket on the Strat made it easy to fit it in, without needing to do any modifications and without any shorting. You could certainly wiggle an inserted jack plug strenuously (both standard and Silent Plug types) with no hint of a crackle or pop.

The extra contact area also makes them suitable for basic loudspeaker cabinet jack use, where there aren't any switching contacts required.

You may need to use slightly more force than normal to push a plug in, but not much. There's a bit more resistance to pulling the plug out, but I see that as a good thing. But you certainly don't need to be extra strong to use one.

The Pure Tone PTT1 jack sockets cost only slightly more (store prices currently vary from £5-£7 in the UK so shop around) than standard Switchcraft jack sockets (normally just under £4 in the UK).

The only negative comments I have are that they only come supplied with one washer and nut for the barrel. I’d have liked to have seen another nut and a toothed lock washer included. A you may have noticed, the length of the PTT1 threaded barrel is longer than that of the one on the Switchcraft unit. So it’s fine for a Strat, where it doesn’t really matter if there’s 2mm more thread poking out from the dished plate, but for a Tele, Les Paul, SG, Precision or Jazz bass etc. where you want to minimise the amount of barrel poking out from the mounting plate, you’ll need a positioning nut and washer underneath the mounting plate. So you'll either need to utilise any from the existing jack, or buy some suitable nuts and washers from someone like Allparts (e.g. https://www.allparts.uk.com/products...nd-input-jacks )

Note that the barrel thread (like Switchcraft) is Imperial, so nuts and washers from metric jacks won’t work.

Pure Tone jack socket options:

PTT2 TRS jack socket (looks like the PTT1 except the two sleeve spring contacts are now ring contacts with their own solder connection).

Nickel or gold finishes.

There is a Pure Tone TRR5 barrel jack socket (TRS) available, which I presume has the double tip and ring contacts internally, but details on the website for this are sparse, so I can’t guarantee it.